The advanced lung cancer inflammation index is a prognostic factor for gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) is a comprehensive assessment indicator that can reflect inflammation and nutrition conditions. However, there are some controversies about whether ALI is an independent prognostic factor for gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing surgical resection. Thus, we aimed to clarify its prognostic value and explore the potential mechanisms. METHODS: Four databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and CNKI were used for searching eligible studies from inception to June 28, 2022. All gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC), esophageal cancer (EC), liver cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and pancreatic cancer were enrolled for analysis. We focused on prognosis most in the current meta-analysis. Survival indicators, including overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and cancer-special survival (CSS) were compared between the high ALI group and the low ALI group. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist was submitted as a supplementary document. RESULTS: We finally included fourteen studies involving 5091 patients in this meta-analysis. After pooling the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), ALI was found to be an independent prognostic factor for both OS (HR = 2.09, I(2) = 92%, 95% CI = 1.53 to 2.85, P < 0.01), DFS (HR = 1.48, I(2) = 83%, 95% CI = 1.18 to 1.87, P < 0.01), and CSS (HR = 1.28, I(2) = 1%, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.60, P = 0.03) in gastrointestinal cancer. After subgroup analysis, we found that ALI was still closely related to OS for CRC (HR = 2.26, I(2) = 93%, 95% CI = 1.53 to 3.32, P < 0.01) and GC (HR = 1.51, I(2) = 40%, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.04, P = 0.006) patients. As for DFS, ALI also has a predictive value on the prognosis of CRC (HR = 1.54, I(2) = 85%, 95% CI = 1.14 to 2.07, P = 0.005) and GC (HR = 1.37, I(2) = 0%, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.73, P = 0.007) patients. CONCLUSION: ALI affected gastrointestinal cancer patients in terms of OS, DFS, and CSS. Meanwhile, ALI was a prognostic factor both for CRC and GC patients after subgroup analysis. Patients with low ALI had poorer prognoses. We recommended that surgeons should perform aggressive interventions in patients with low ALI before the operation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12957-023-02972-4.